Combined blog for the Harford Area Weekly Kriegpielers (HAWKs).

Daily Archives: September 30, 2013

This week I painted the Bones Rust Monster from the Original 30 Bones Set. As way of preparing to paint this figure, I got out my old 70’s era D&D Monster Manual to read a little about these monsters, to see if there was any kind of description as to coloring. Unfortunately, there was not, but I did learn that they were rather un-aggressive beasts who dwell in deep dark subterranean places, going about their business of finding metal to munch on. So, as I pondered what colors to paint my Rust Monster, the idea came in my mind of the pale pigment-less animals that you find in dark areas where the sun doesn’t shine; and so I decided to give this look a try, as it would be something a little different. I began as usual, by washing the figure in some dish-washing soap, and then gluing it to a black primed 1” fender washer. I then glued the washer to half a tongue depressor with a drop of white glue.(Click on any photo to view it larger.)

As far as color, the name of the beast lead me to think in terms of reddish-brown. So to begin with I gave the whole thing a wash with Iron Wind Metals’ “Chestnut Brown” Ink. I used the ink full strength without water to dilute it. I had some issue with the ink beading on the Bones material, so I had to go back and apply more ink in the areas where it hadn’t stuck the first time. Eventually I got the whole thing covered

When the ink had dried I gave the figure a drybrushing with Folk Art “Almond Parfait” paint. I then added some White to the “Almond Parfait” ,and gave a light highlighting drybrush to the figure with this mixture.

I then painted the claws with GW “Fortress Grey” and the monster’s “mouth” with GW “Tanned Flesh”. I then wanted to add some sort of decoration to the plain bland body. As I was looking at the tail I noticed how it kind of looked like a face, and this gave me the idea of adding a pair of “false eyes” camouflage to the tail. After all, inhabiting dungeons with much meaner, hungrier, beasts, the Rust Monster probably developed some sort of survival tricks; and what better in dim dungeon light, then a pair of “false eyes” on your tail to confuse attackers as you run away. So I painted two dark brown spots on the tail with Accent “Real Umber”, and likewise, I painted the monster’s eyes with the same color. I then added “pupils” to the false eyes by painting two white dots in the center of the dark spots. For the real eyes, I decided I actually wanted the brown dots to be the pupils, so I added a rim around them with GW “Blood Red”. I then added a tiny white fleck to the pupils to give them a shiny look. I then gave a wash of GW “Devlan Mud” wash to the claws and mouth. When this had dried, I added some highlights with the original colors. I then painted the base with Americana “Mississippi Mud”

I let the figure and base dry overnight, then I painted the whole thing with Ceramcoat “Matte Varnish”. When this had had time to dry, I sprayed the figure with Testor’s “Dullcoat.”

Overall I’m pleased with how it looks. It definitely came out looking strange, like something you’d find under a rock,(if not something like a boiled shrimp). 🙂